THE OLD TACKLE BOX
by Donna McIntosh
Summary: This is a story about what Jack's will leaves to Ennis.


Title: THE OLD TACKLE BOX

Author: Donna McIntosh

Fandom: Brokeback Mountain

Genre: Slash

Rating: NC-17 FRAO

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Annie Proulx. I just don't let Jack die. I had to fix what I couldn't stand.

THE OLD TACKLE BOX

The knocking at the door was persistent. Ennis tried to ignore it but in his little trailer that was impossible. The pounding on the door was actually shaking the trailer. He stubbed his cigarette out in the over flowing ash tray and angrily pushed the door open.

"Whatever you're selling; I ain't buyin. Try the next trailer." He was sick to death of these door-to-door salesmen.

"Mr. Del Mar? I'm not selling anything. I got a package for you but you gotta sign for it first." The guy in the brown uniform said holding out a brown paper wrapped parcel. Ennis eyed the big brown truck and shook his head.

"I didn't order nothin."

"Don't know about that, Sir. You Mr. Del Mar? Ennis Del Mar?"

"That'd be me."

"This is for you then." He thrust the package into Ennis's hands. "You gotta sign for it."

"I tell you, I didn't order nothin." Ennis tried to give the package back.

"It's got your name on it and I gotta leave it here. You don't want it, you can always send it back to …" The delivery man took a look at the return address then added, "Childress, Texas."

Ennis stared down at the package in his hands and at the return address. Lureen Twist, Childress, Texas. He went rigid. "Where you want me to sign?" He took the clip board and signed for the package. He closed and locked the door and stood staring at the package at the neat handwriting spelling out his name and address. He hadn't given Lureen his address during their brief phone conversation and wondered how she managed to get it.

He sat on the side of the bed holding the package in his lap. It must be something of Jack's. She sent me something of Jack's. What could it be? Carefully he loosened the edges that were taped and slipped the paper off the box. His fingers slid under the Scotch tape and opened the box flaps. Inside was a bunch of newspapers wadded up. He started pulling them out and there in the middle of it was Jack's old tackle box. There was a note and an envelope taped to the top. The note read:

"Lureen,

If anything ever happens to me, I want you to see that Ennis gets this old tackle box. His address is: Ennis Del Mar, Myers Trailer Park, Route 2 box 17, Riverton, WY.."

The envelope was addressed to him and was sealed. His name was written across the top in Jack's handwriting. He pulled the envelope free from the tape and held it. His eyes blurred with tears. Jack! Jack had written him a note. Jack had given him his old tackle box. Jack … God! He couldn't he stand it!

He put the tackle box down on the floor and got up; pacing back and forth staring at the envelope with Jack's handwriting on it. What could he have possibly written to him?

Slowly he eased the envelope open and pulled out the letter.

Ennis, if you're reading this, then the worst must have happened. If Momma was able, I'm sure she got those shirts to you. If she did, go look in the pocket of my shirt. You'll find the key to this tackle box. If not, then just break into it. I know you always admired my gear and I wanted you to have it.

Your fishing and hunting buddy,

Jack Twist

Ennis dropped the letter on the kitchen table and went to his closet. He unsnapped the pocket of the blue denim shirt, wiggled his fingers down inside and there it was; a key, just the right size for the lock on the tackle box. He sat back down on the side of his bed and picked the box up. The key slid into the lock and turned easily. He lifted the lid and found a bunch of papers, envelopes, maps and several pages of notebook paper folded together on top. He picked them up and started reading.

_Ennis_, _I hate that I had to do it this way_;_ but it was the only safe way. First off, I'm not dead_.

Ennis jumped up spilling the box and its contents to the floor. He re-read the line again and again, it was written in big bold letters. "I'M NOT DEAD!." He stopped breathing and thought for a time he might pass out. He wiped the tears on his shirt sleeve and was finally able to read on.

_Things just got to be more than I could take. I had to get out. I just fucking couldn't stand it any more, Ennis, not one more day!_

_About ten years ago, Lureen insisted that I make out a will. She had her lawyer set it all up; life insurance policies went one to her, one to Bobby and one to my folks. She asked me if I wanted to leave anything to any of m y friends. I left $500 for my friends in Chidlress to have a beer party after I was gone. And I told her I'd like to leave my old tackle box to you. She thought that was a fine idea; that's how this all got started._

_I began stashing little things in there that I thought you might like to have. I didn't have_

_Any real plan back then; just that I wanted you to have something to remember me by. The harmonica is there along with that Rodeo buckled I won. I stuck in enough cast to buy a case of Old Rose and that gave me the idea. Every time I had some extra cash I didn't need, I stuck it in the box. I figured you could use it and Lureen and Bobby sure don't need it. They already got more than the two of them could ever spend when old L.D. cashed in his chips back in '78._

_The year you got divorced I thought we were going to get a place together so I opened a bank account up in Denver; put it in both our names. No one knows about it. You'll find the paperwork in the box. You are listed as my next of kin; my brother. It's a real nice fat bank account now. I've been adding to it all these years. I just kept hoping that one day you would agree to get a place with me._

_Well, opportunity knocked last night and I jumped! This is what happened. I had a flat tire just outside of Childress. This hitch-hiker come along about then and said he'd change it for me for a ride into town. I agreed. I walked off a bit to take a piss while he changed the tire. All the sudden I heard this explosion. When I got back to the truck, I found the guy, flat on his back, his face all smashed in. The tire had exploded and the rim got him in the face. He was dead._

_It all come to me then, Ennis. It could have been me! I coulda been dead! I looked for ID on the guy and he didn't have any; not a scrap of paper with his name or anybody else's name on it. I kept looking at him and thinking how much him and I looked alike; about the same height and build, same color hair; it was like looking at what coulda happened to me and if he hadn't come along, it woulda been me laying there dead instead of him. It hit me like a flash! This was my way out! I changed clothes with him, then put my wedding ring and watch on him. The way he was messed up, I didn't figure anyone would be looking all that close anyway._

Ennis turned to the next page; scarcely breathing as he paced the floor. Was it true? Could Jack still be alive? He continued reading.

_So I just walked away and kept on walking. I hid out in the back yard shed until Lureen left for work this morning then I slipped into the house to write this note. I knew she'd see that you got it. It was safer than me trying to contact you or writing to you myself. I hope you're not too mad at me for doing it this way. I had to make everyone think I was dead. The only one knowing the truth is Momma. I'm gonna call her tomorrow and explain things to her. She's got a bad heart, Ennis, and I can't risk what it might do to her. _

_I'm through with them all now; most especially I'm through with Texas. Can't hardly wait to get out of here. Things were just going from bad to worse here and if I had to stay_ _here much longer with things the way they are; I'd either drink myself to death or shoot myself. I hope you can forgive what I've put you through. If you do, and you still want to see me, you need to take a trip to Denver. It ain't all that far, Ennis, just straight down Interstate 25 a little over three hundred miles from Riverton. I got a little apartment I been keeping there, easy to find. It's on the north side of town as you come in on the highway, you'll come to the Meadowbrook exit just inside the city limits. It's right on the corner there next to the Texaco gas station. Summit Oaks Apartments, round in back #12. I kept hoping all those years that you'd say the word and we'd take off and I'd surprise you with it; that we'd have some place to go._

_The next move is up to you, Ennis. Me, I come so close to dying that it scared me good. I ain't ready to die before I ever had a chance to live my dream. All these years, we just been treading water. It's time now, time we made a life for ourselves._

_If you care for me as much as I think you do; you'll come to me. If you don't come, I'll know you never did care for me the way I thought you did. It's our moment of truth, Ennis. If you love me, you'll come to me. If you don't, it'll break my heart one last time but at least I'll be out of this Texas mess and I can get on with my life as best I can without you._

_Just one more thing, Ennis, I gotta tell you what you mean to me. You may not want to hear this but every word is true, I swear!_

_The first time we met I knew you were something special. It about killed me when we came down off that mountain and you went on and got married. Then we started seeing each other again and I knew you were the one. I tried and tried to tell you my feelings but just never did get it all out. I was afraid of scaring you off. I got nothing to loose now so I'm telling it all._

_I love you, Ennis. Love you so much I can't hardly stand it. Being with you is all I live for. The rest of the year I been just getting by, just waiting to be with you and drinking myself half to death in the mean time. The only time I feel really alive is when we're together. I'm hoping and praying that you feel the same way and that you'll still want to see me._

_If you don't want to see me no more, I can understand. What I done is pretty bad, I know. Just please remember one thing if you don't remember nothing else, remember that I love you; always have, always will._

_I'm leaving now. Please, please, Ennis, go to Denver. My address there 1711 E. Meadowbrook Apt. 12. When you get here you can sock me for what I done. It's OK. You can take your best shot, I won't stop you._

_Just please come to me. I need you. I can't go on without you; don't want to._

_Jack_

Ennis had to sit down. He felt like he was going to either faint or maybe throw up. He read the letter again a second time. He went back to the box again and looked through the contents; stacks and stacks of hundreds, fifties, twenties rubber banded together, a road map of Wyoming folded and the route marked from Riverton to Denver. There was literature from the Summit Oaks Apartments with a picture on the front of the big red brick complex with the street address and a little map showing how to find it. He also found the harmonica and Jack's old belt buckle. He picked them up and caressed them.

He couldn't stop the tears then. He lay down on his bed, clutching his two precious gifts and let the tears come. Jack was alive! He was alive! He couldn't believe it.

The tears dried up as the excitement inside him began to build. This was it; his moment of truth. Jack had faced his and made his decision. Now it was Ennis's turn. He practically leapt from the bed. He went to the closet, yanked things down and tossed them on the bed; pulled things from the built in chest of drawers and grabbed up his extra pair of boots. He rolled it all up in the sheets and blankets on his bed and hauled it out to the front passenger seat of his pickup. He went back inside and dug out some paper grocery bags and filled two of them with the contents of his small pantry and took that to the truck. One more paper bag he filled with a coffee pot, a couple of pans, some flatware and his few dishes and coffee mugs.

With the bags on the floorboard he barely had room beside him on the bench seat for the tackle box. Everything else that was his, he hauled out to the garbage can. He closed and locked the trailer door and drove around front to the park manager's office, went inside and returned the key and told them he wouldn't be renting #17 any more. A twenty minute drive took him out to the ranch where he'd been working and notified the manager that he was quitting. He picked up his final check and headed back to town.

A quick stop at Alma's where he reached inside the tackle box, pulled out two hundred dollar bills and a fifty and went inside and he paid off the last two payments for Jenny; who had already moved to her Aunt's house in Casper. He refused to answer any of Alma's questions; just gave her the money and left; heading south, towards Denver.

The drive was the longest that Ennis had ever made as he had never left the state of Wyoming before. It gave him plenty of time to think. Mostly he thought about seeing Jack again; holding him in his arms again. There were moments that he couldn't believe what he was doing. Quitting a perfectly good job, working for a manager he liked and just driving off, out of state to be with Jack; Jack who was supposed to be dead. There were moments too when he was afraid this was all some sort of sick practical joke; maybe a trap to lure him out in the middle of nowhere with tire irons waiting for him.

No, that couldn't be it. That was Jack's handwriting, Jack's tackle box, Jack's things.

And there was the matter of all that money. He hadn't taken the time to count it but there must be thousands in there. No practical joker or someone bent on killing him would put that much cash out on a chance that he might just keep the money and not show up. And Denver wasn't exactly out in the middle of nowhere. He'd just have to pay attention to what he was doing and make sure he didn't walk into any trap.

It was late evening by the time he entered the city proper. He found the Meadowbrook exit and there the apartment complex was; easy enough to spot even in the dark; just off the highway like Jack said. He drove around back and parked. He looked carefully around and no one was in sight. He made his way over to apartment #12. He raised his hand to knock then changed his mind and reached for the knob. It opened into a tiny living room. He closed the door and twisted the lock behind him. He could see a light in the hallway and followed it to the bedroom. There was a little TV on the dresser and the evening news was on but the room was empty. Then he heard the toilet flush and Jack walked into the room. He looked up, startled.

"Ennis!" That was all he got out before he was tackled. Ennis flew at him taking them both to the floor. Anyone seeing it from a distance would swear a vicious fight was going on; two men desperately clawing at each other, trying to get closer, to get a better grip, to hold on tighter; mouths trying to devour one another.

They never even got their jeans down or a hand in between them to help; it wasn't necessary. They rolled back and forth; first one on top then the other; their passion an all consuming flame carrying them to endless heights where they slipped over the edge free falling; first one, than the other; gliding back down slowly to reality tangled up in each other.

Jack got his senses back first and spoke with self-righteous anger. "What the hell took you so long? I've been waiting nearly four months!"

Ennis came up off the floor like a bull out of the chute. "Where the hell you get off hollarin at me? I just got the package yesterday. You couldn't a called? Sent me a telegram? Nothin?"

Jack stood up and grinned. "Did you read my note?"

"Yes I read your fuckin note! And I'm mad as hell! How could you do somethin like this to me, Jack fuckin Twist? How could you do somethin so stupid?"

Jack shook his head and glanced down at the floor, "I just couldn't take it no more, Cowboy. I saw my chance to get out and I took it." He looked back up at Ennis trying to gauge just how mad he was.

"You just … you can't do things like this! This ain't no movie of the week here, Jack. You got any idea what I been goin through these last four months? No, course you ain't. You been settin on your ass down here in Denver while I been dyin up there in Riverton!"

"You said you only just now got the package? She sure took her sweet time mailin it."

They stared at each other in silence before Ennis calmed down enough to say, "It was just an old tackle box to her. I'm sure she didn't see no rush in gettin it to me. What would you have done if she hadn't even sent it? She coulda just given it to Goodwill or tossed it or somethin. Didja ever think of that?"

"No, I never did. You're probably right. At least she sent it. I'm grateful to her for that." Jack said, running his hand through his tousled hair. "It ain't been no picnic down here neither, Ennis. When I didn't hear from you I figured you was through with me."

Ennis stared at him, still not believing his eyes. Jack! Jack was alive and he was here in this very room.

"I know what I did was wrong but it was my ticket out of there, Ennis. If I had it to do again, I'd do the same thing. I'm free now."

In two steps Ennis had him in his arms again. "Jack! My God, Jack. You're alive!"

They held on to one another, pounded each other on the back and kissed until their lips were raw and swollen. They laughed and cried and swore at each other but didn't let go of one another. Finally Jack pulled Ennis over to the bed and they sat down and tried to make normal conversation; both talking at once.

Ennis laughed out loud, which was a rare thing for him. He kissed Jack one more time and said. "OK, one at a time now."

"Me first!" Jack insisted, holding on Ennis's arm. "What are your plans? How much time do we have and when to you have to be back?"

"I don't. I quit the ranch. I took some of that money in that tackle box and paid off Alma and here I am."

"You serious? You quit the ranch? You don't have to go back?"

"You met your opportunity and you took it, Jack. I'm just doin the same thing."

"What about Riverton? Your girls?"

"Junior's married now and livin in Casper. Jenny moved down there and is finishing up her last semester of High School there. She's livin with my sister and will be startin nursin school in the fall. They got their own lives goin for them now. And as for Riverton, I got nothin there to go back to; 'cept to pick up my horses. We can do that after we find a place to board 'em."

"You mean that?"

"I do. What about your family in Texas?" Ennis asked.

"I told you last trip that my marriage could be done over the phone. It hasn't been a marriage in years; never was one really. I got her pregnant so we got married. That's about it. And Bobby? That damn L.D. lived long enough to poison Bobby's mind against me. We ain't never been close, not with every other word coming from his mouth, 'Grampa says this or Grampa says that'. Even after the old bastard was in the ground I tried to make it right with Bobby but he wasn't interested. He's got a mind of his own and he's a city boy at heart. He ain't nothin like me. The bigger the city the more he likes it. All he talks about is movin to Dallas once he graduates. He needs all the comforts that money can buy and don't believe in breakin a sweat unless it's over a game of tennis. Betcha anything he took the insurance money and bought himself a new car. He and Lureen are probably off in Europe spending every last dollar of that insurance money."

"I guess it's just you and me then, Bud. Think you can stand it; bein with me 24/7?"

Jack stood up then and paced a few steps before looking back. "Are you sayin what it sounds like you're sayin?"

"The last four months I thought you was dead. I thought I'd never see you again; you was gone from my life for good. It hurt, Jack; more than I can say. It's been like I was dead too; still walkin around but dead just the same. Now you're back; you're alive and you still set my insides on fire whenever you look at me. I ain't never felt nothin like it with nobody else; you're the only one. So if we can just sit down and figure some way to do this; I'd like to try and see if we can find a way to live together; find some place safe."

Jack stared at him, his mouth gaping open. "OK … a …you got some place in mind?"

"No. Thought maybe you might. If not, we can talk it over, come up with something. You been around a lot more than me. You know that ranchin is all that I know but if you want to try somethin else, I'm willin to try. I worked a couple winters at the warehouse at Sears. I could do somethin like that; warehouse work I mean. You've had four months to sit around and think. What have you come up with to do?"

"I … uh …Oh, Shit, Ennis. You really gonna do this?" He came back and sat down by Ennis again.

"Uh huh. We been given a second chance here, Jack. It's gotta mean somethin. You still want to?"

"Want to? WANT TO? It's all I've dreamed about for the last twenty years and you're askin me if I WANT to?"

"You always talked about a cow-calf operation but cattle ain't bringin in near the prices they used to. You been thinkin any about that?"

"Yeah, I have. That's why I've been thinkin about a horse ranch. Breedin, trainin, boardin. We could keep some cows; maybe enough for eatin and tradin with neighbors or sellin a few for a little cash money if we need to. We could make it on a ranch if we start out small. We could get us a vegetable garden in and maybe some fruit trees. We could hunt and fish and we could get by."

"You have some place in mind?" Ennis asked.

"Nothing definite; I been looking at ads for places around here. It's real nice country here, Ennis, lots of huntin and fishin places around."

"You check any of 'em out?"

"Not yet. I been waitin on you."

"Well, I'm here now. How you figure on buyin a place. I mean I know there's lots of money in that tackle box but don't think there's enough to buy a place."

"I told you in the letter, I opened a bank account here, back in 1975 and I been addin to it evey time I come through. Been stashin most everythin I made for the last eight years. Back then is when I got this place. I even got myself a Colorado Driver's license. I got plenty in that account, Ennis, more than enough for a sizeable down payment, settin up money, and enough for a coupla years running room."

"Whew! You got that much money, Jack? I didn't know I'd be settin up with no rich man. You think some bank will finance us for the rest?"

"I'm bettin they will. There is so much land around here for sale; I think they'll be happy to when we offer them a nice hefty down payment. The thing we need to do is find a place that the bank has taken over; something they'll be happy to get off their books."

"I hope you're right."

"I just can't believe it. After all these years; you're really agreein to move in with me."

"I lost you, Jack. You were gone from my life for good. I wasn't never gonna see you again or be with you. I near went crazy. Every mornin when I woke up the first thing that hit me was Jack is dead. I ain't never gonna be with him again. That's all I thought about; morning, noon and night. You said up on that mountain that I didn't know how bad it gets for you. Well you don't know how bad it was for me and I ain't got the words to tell you. You're back now and we got another chance to do this. We may get chased out of town; have to sell off and move, I don't know. But if you're willin to try, then I think we should."

"So do I!" Jack seized him then kissing him until he tasted blood then pulled back. "Jeeze, I'm sorry, Ennis. I split your lip."

"Don't matter none, c'mere." Ennis pulled him back into a bear hug.

"I think what we need is a shower; how about it?" Jack asked his face muffled against Ennis's shoulder.

"Sounds good to me, as long as I don't have to let you outta my sight." He released his grip somewhat but didn't let go.

Jack just smiled and pulled back the shower curtain. They got in, soaped up then soaped each other up. It was a long slow shower that lasted way after the water had gone cold and ended with the two of them snuggled up in bed together. They didn't sleep much that night; each constantly touching and grasping the other; so afraid that when they woke up, it would all have been a dream.

The next morning at the breakfast table they discussed their options over coffee.

"You give any thought to what we gonna do if there ain't no ranches available in our price range?" Ennis asked.

"Well then I guess I'll have to fuck you." Jack answered and reached over and squeezed Ennis's thigh.

Ennis chuckled. "OK. You figure we just end up workin in a shoe store or somethin?"

"If that happens then you can fuck me." Jack grinned at him.

"I already done that and so did you. Gotta think of somethin else."

"Why? I like thinkin about that."

"Me too, Bud, but we gotta think about how we're gonna support ourselves in case we don't find no ranch we can afford."

"Guess I shoulda mentioned. I made a few phone calls to this Real Estate place; talked to some woman just last week. She says there are about half a dozen or so small ranches within a 60 mile drive of Denver that are in our price range and bank repos. She sent me some paperwork on 'em. Here." He handed Ennis a stack of papers from a drawer in the cupboard.

Ennis started going over them. "Whew. These are pretty costly Jack. You got that kind of money?"

"They're only askin ten percent down, Cowboy. I figured I'd offer them twenty five percent down to sweeten the deal. She says financing is pretty easy to come by; long as a body don't have bad credit. My credit's good; how about yours?"

"Never did finance nothin so I guess it ain't bad or good." Ennis answered.

"We shouldn't have any trouble gettin the credit then."

"You plan on usin your own name? What if we run into someone you know?" Ennis asked.

"This is a big city, Ennis, chances of runnin into anyone I know are slim to none. If that does happen, I can always claim I'm just a distant relative; a cousin or somethin to the Jack Twist that died down in Texas."

"I know you said before you didn't have any people left but your Ma and Pa. What do you plan on doin about that? You gonna go see her, ain't ya?"

"After we get settled, I will. I already called her and talked with her. She's OK with everythin. She's worried a course but Mommas always find somethin to worry about anyway."

"True enough. I liked your Momma; can't say the same for your Pa though."

"He's a mean old bastard. Did he give you a hard time?"

"He was tellin me you was gonna bring someone from Texas up there to live. You tell him that?" A knife twisted in his gut him then as he remembered that awful day sitting there in the Twist kitchen listening to the old man.

"Yeah, I did. Couldn't take it no more. Every time I drove up there he'd give me a hard time. I told them both back in '63 that I was gonna bring you up there and the two of us was gonna build a cabin and help with the ranch. He never let me forget it and every time I showed up he'd start lashin at me. 'Why don't you and your invisible boyfriend Ennis Del Mar go clean out the barn; or you and Ennis Del Mar go out back and cut some fire wood.' He never let up. I told him there was someone else in Texas I was bringin up there cause I couldn't stand the way he kept sayin 'Ennis Del Mar' like you was somethin imaginary or somethin dirty."

"I can see him bein like that. He's got a mean mouth on him. Don't matter none to him that he's givin his woman pain; he done it anyway."

"He's always been like that; never known anythin different from him."

"I can sure see why you left home so young. Must a hurt leavin your Ma though. She's a sweetheart."

"She is that, Ennis. And when we get a chance I wanna take you with me to go see her. We'll wait till Pa goes off on a buyin trip or somethin. I wanna call her soon as we find a place. I told her I was waitin on you and that you'd be comin before long. She said she liked you a lot and was worried for you; said you was real torn up."

"Jack, one of these days when I can stand to stop lovin you long enough; I'm gonna kick your ass for what you done. I near died from losin you."

"I'm sorry as I can be about that but you got me back again, Cowboy. I figured Lureen to send you that box right off. I never expected you'd have to think me dead for four months but it had to be real enough for everyone to buy it. Only one I couldn't risk was Momma. She's gettin on in years and ain't all that healthy. I sure didn't figure it would take no four months for you to get my message though. I'm sure sorry 'bout that. Don't know why Lureen waited so long to send it to you."

"She probably forgot all about it. It ain't important no more. I got the message."

"Yeah; so did I." Jack grinned a lecherous grin and reached over to Ennis again.

"You best mind your manners, Jack Twist and keep those kind a thoughts for later."

"All right; whatever you say. You ready to go look at some property?"

"You know some of these places look pretty good." Ennis said looking through the papers again.

"The one I like best is … that one; the one with the creek on it." He pointed to one of the papers Ennis was holding. "It says the creek's flowing year round. That's important to have free flowin water like that. We could irrigate the fields during the summer if we need to. And it's a bank repo. Those are always the easiest to finance the Real Estate lady said."

"It says the house is gone; gutted by a fire." Ennis mumbled, reading the paperwork.

"Yeah, that's one of the reasons it's the cheapest but it's only thirty miles out of town and it's only been vacant two years. Some of those others haven't seen a plow in ten years or more. They'd be pretty far gone and harder than hell to bring back. This place is just the right size; 200 acres. It's got a new well head and pump, new septic system. All that was put in just a couple years before the fire." Jack added.

"It does sound pretty good and it's the cheapest. We can get us some campin gear for sleepin and cookin and such till we get a place built. You ever build a cabin before, Jack?"

"Nah. But I guess between the two of us we could figure it out. It says it's got electricity to the place and hell, there might even be a barn or some out buildings we could stay in for a while."

"It won't be like stayin in no fancy apartment, Jack." Ennis warned.

"Yeah, I know. I don't mind. Won't be the first time we bathed and washed clothes in a creek." They exchanged glances remembering all those camping trips and their skinny dipping in the creeks and lakes.

"Guess we could get by; long as you don't mind roughin it some." Ennis grinned.

"Long as you're with me, Ennis, I don't mind at all."

Mrs. LuAnne Jackson of Jackson Realty was waiting for them when they got there. It took them until late afternoon to drive around and look at the five best prospects but both agreed that Jack's favorite won hands down.

There had been no photograph of the house with the paperwork so they assumed it had been entirely gutted but when they looked at it, it was still half there. Just the back half of the house was gone, two bedrooms and a bath. The rest of the house was still there and not in too bad a shape considering it had been open to the elements for two years. Across the front of the house was a living room on the left side and across the hall was a dining room and kitchen. The back half of the house was burned timbers and piles of debris. Mrs. Jackson told them someone had been smoking in bed and set the place on fire but it started raining and put the fire out before the whole place burned.

Their decision was made before they even got back to the Real Estate office. That was the one they wanted. It was dusk by the time the paperwork was filled out and sent in but they had been granted credit and with the hefty down payment of twenty five percent Jack made, they were now the new owners of the Rocking J ranch. Ennis loved the name of the place and teased Jack that he was going to be rocking a certain 'J' for a long time to come. Jack snickered and agreed that they should indeed keep the original name.

They spent the first night in town in Jack's apartment. Next morning they emptied his place and he gave the manager back his keys and they headed for Western Auto where they picked up some camping gear. Since there was enough of the house left to keep the rain off them, they didn't need a tent and concentrated on a few things for comfort like a couple of air mattresses, some sleeping bags, a Coleman stove, lantern, two small propane heaters and a case of propane refills and a box of candles. Then a stop at the grocery store that filled two shopping carts and they were headed to their ranch.

After wandering through the remains of the house again they decided to set up out in the barn. It was large enough; it had four walls, and a roof and doors that could be closed. The floor was hard packed dirt though but at least they'd be out of the wind. In the house, the living room and kitchen both opened out into a hall which at the end had only sky for a roof.

First they spent a couple hours hard work cleaning out the barn. They found some old tarps up in the rafters of the barn that had U.S. Army stamped on them and opened them out to use as a floor in their area. They hauled the kitchen table and chairs out of the house, cleaned them up some and set them up in the back corner and set their camp stove up on it. The air mattresses were blown up with the help of the air pump they bought. They stacked up some old apple crates they found in a shed out back and used them to store their groceries and kitchen supplies. There was a water tap just outside the back door where they could draw water once the electrics were turned on to power the pump. Until that time they would have to fill some containers from the creek out back for water. They hung their lantern from a rafter over head and set out some candles and the small heaters for the evening.

They stopped for lunch and while eating they scribbled a list of things they needed to pick up, on one of the brown paper grocery bags. Back in town they contacted an electrician and he agreed to come out the next day and see if he could get the electricity hooked up at least to the barn. Then it was on to the Sears tool department and Jack told Ennis to start picking out all the tools he thought they'd need to get started on the place.

It was dark before they pulled the truck up to the barn and began unloading. It had turned colder and looked like they might get another freeze. By the time they were pulling the barn doors closed the wind was blowing and the temperature dropped.

They lit the lantern, turned the little heaters on, and lit some candles. Some old feedbags stuffed under the barn doors kept the wind from blowing in there but the place was far from warm.

"You wanna go into town for the night? We could probably get the apartment back and stay there until we get the house livable." Jack offered; blowing on his hands to warm them as Ennis was heating up some canned stew for supper.

"No. This is fine. No sense payin rent on that place while we got this one. We gotta watch the spendin if we're gonna make what you got last. We already spent a lot on all those tools and we're gonna need to be spending a lot more to get that house livable and the place up and runnin. We're outta the wind; mostly. We get on the outside of some of this stew and a few shots of Old Rose in us; we won't feel the cold as much."

Jack twisted off the bottle top and poured two of Ennis's mismatched coffee cups half full. "OK; if you say so." He hesitated a moment then added. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind for us livin together."

"It'll do, Jack. It's almost March so the worst of winter's past. Tomorrow we can get started on the house. We'll have it livable in no time. You keep busy you don't even notice the cold."

"Where do you figure to start?" Jack asked as he dug into the stew that Ennis handed him.

"Gotta go in and pull out all the burned stuff first. Clean the place up. They got a burn barrel out back. We can dump it there. Then we gotta do some arithmetic and figure out the dimensions of the place; figure what wood we'll need to get the frame work up. We go into town and buy what we need for the framin. Once we get it framed up, we figure what we need to do the roof and the outside walls." He answered around mouthfuls of stew.

"You know how to do all that stuff? I figured we'd have to hire it done." Jack mopped up the remains of his stew with a piece of bread.

"I done some building before; helped out mainly but I watched and seen how it was done. We added a room out at Cole's ranch one summer; a sewing room for Mrs. Cole; turned out real nice too. Never did no plumbin though so we'll need to have someone come and do that when we get that far. And once we get the outside walls up, we'll need to get an electrician out to run the wiring before we put up the inside walls."

"What about windows and doors; you know how to make them?"

"You don't make windows, Jack. You buy them ready made. You find out what size they have and you make sure the hole you leave in the wall is the same size as what you buy; same as with a door."

"OK; that makes it sound easier. How long you think it'll take; got any idea?"

"No idea at all; depends on too many different things. If the weather holds out; if we can find the stuff we need in town or have to order it, and if we can keep our hands off each other and our minds on the work. Lots of things to consider." Ennis smiled and poured them each another drink.

"I got a feeling that last part is the one gonna give us trouble." Jack grinned at him.

"I got a feeling you're right!" Ennis agreed.

It did snow that first night and they slept with their coats on, wrapped around each other inside the zipped together sleeping bags. Their heaters did little against the cold but neither of them complained.

The next morning as Ennis stood drinking coffee and digging a boot toe down into the snow; Jack came outside after taking his turn on the old pail and dumping it out the back and covering it. "Don't look too bad; only a coupla inches."

"Yeah, it'll burn off once the sun gets up." Ennis answered sipping his steaming coffee.

"Then it's gonna be a work day and not a lay around in the barn and make out day?" Jack nuzzled the back of Ennis's neck.

"A work day, Jack. The sooner we get the house in shape the sooner we get to think about takin days of for no reason at all." Ennis scolded but held tight to the arm circling his waist.

"I can think of some reasons," Jack pouted.

"You can think 'em but we can't do 'em. Least not for a while. How are you at arithmetic? I can do the measuring and you can write it all down and add it up. I'm a little rusty with the addin."

"OK. Sounds like a plan to me. Can't we just figure a way to put a door on that livin room so we could stay in there? There's a fireplace in there."

"Nope. We'd have to close off that whole wall. It'd look like shit. I like it open like it is."

"Yeah, it's nice open to the hall and the dining room but not to the sky."

"That's right. That's why we need to get our butts in gear and get started. Sooner we get started the sooner we can get the place closed in. Once it's closed in we can move into the living room and sleep in front of that fire place."

"That sounds good to me," Jack said.

"Why don't you get those shovels and rakes out of the shed. I'll get the wheel barrow and we can get this show on the road." They pulled their gloves on and got busy.

The next three hours they hauled load after load to the burn barrel and set it ablaze.

"Hey look what I found!" Jack held up a charred toilet seat and smiled through the hole.

"Cute. We need to get your picture took and use that for a frame." Ennis teased.

"I was thinkin that we could still use it. We could set it on that pail. It'd be a heck of a lot more comfortable."

"I always said you was a great thinker, Jack. Toss it over there in the 'save' pile. Some of these two-by-fours ain't all that bad neither. We can cut off the burned ends and still get some use out of them. They continued their work until the electrician pulled up in his truck.

They showed him around to where the electrics hooked up to the barn and he agreed that he could get it set up for the electricity to be turned on out there. He also told them about when, in their framing process they would need to call him and he would come out and run the electrics for them. He also recommended a plumber for when they got ready to install the new bathroom fixtures.

By mid afternoon they finished with their clean up of the area and started their measuring. Luckily the foundation was concrete and wasn't harmed by the fire. Once they got the melted linoleum scraped up along with the rest of the debris, they were able to see exactly what the dimensions were and got everything measured accurately. With their sizable list they left the electrician to his chore and headed into town.

Four hours later they returned with their load stacked in the back of their newly purchased horse trailer and found the light in front of the barn on. A bill for services was taped to the barn door. They went inside and flipped the switch beside the door. Two overhead lights came on; one in the middle of the barn; the other over the old work bench at the back.

"Oh Boy!" Jack practically crooned. "Tonight we have heat!" He started hauling their latest purchases in from the truck. They included two large sized electric heaters, along with several extension cords; long enough to reach over to the house.

Ennis opened the boxes containing the heaters while Jack heated up some hot dogs and beans for dinner. By the time dinner was over the barn was warming up nicely. Once they had the door cracks jammed with feed bags again the place was almost comfortable.

"This place is getting down right cozy," Jack said as he snuggled up next to Ennis who was sitting on the air mattress and leaning back against the wall having a smoke.

"Yep. Probably won't even want to move into that house once it's finished. Probably just wanna stay right here."

Jack looked at him in wide eyed innocence. "Could we? We could just forget all about all that work you got planned."

"Nope. We need a house proper to live in. I didn't agree to this livin together stuff to sleep in no barn. Once the house is ready, I'm movin in there. 'Course you can stay out here if you're a mind to."

"OK. You talked me into it." He took a puff off Ennis's cigarette and lay down with his head in Ennis's lap. "How you like livin together so far?"

Ennis petted Jack's hair. "OK so far. Nobody seems to care it's just you and me gonna be livin here. Nobody asked any funny questions. Anyone ask you anythin?"

"Nope. Country folks pretty much mind their own business. Let them think what they want."

"There's just one more thing though, Jack. I do think we need to buy us some guns; just to be on the safe side."

"That's a good idea. Will you teach me to shoot?"

"I'll do it. Next time we're in town, we need to see about some. They had some over at Western Auto."

"We'll check it out next time in town." He was getting drowsy now and nodding off.

Ennis mashed his cigarette butt in the tin can they were using for an ash tray, blew the candle out, slid down beside Jack and pulled the covers up over them.

The next morning after breakfast Ennis set up the saw horses and they set about sawing off the burnt edges of the pieces of wood that they had salvaged. They had all their stuff unloaded then started out. First they laid down two-by-fours around the parameter, cut them to size and bolted them down; exactly where they had been before. Then they started on the side wall. They measured, cut the wood to size, laid it out on the ground and bolted it all together; making sure to leave room for the window. Once that was ready they worked it up to the foundation, propped it up with other two-by-fours and bolted it into place. Then the other side wall which went together and in place a lot easier than the first because they knew what they were doing.

Once both side walls were framed and propped securely they broke for lunch.

"That wasn't so bad now was it?" Ennis asked as they stood admiring their work.

"No, but that back wall is gonna be a bitch. It's almost three times as long and it's gonna be hell liftin it upright once we get it together."

"Now that's where a little experience comes in handy. We do it in three sections and lift them one at a time. Piece of cake."

"Oh. OK. We should be able to handle that. Three sections huh? Now why didn't I think of that?" Jack grinned.

"Because you been thinkin about my ass; is why. Don't think I haven't noticed you bumpin up against me all mornin. I know what you got on your mind, Jack Twist, and we ain't havin no play time until after the work is done."

"You're a hard task master, Mr. Del Mar. You sure you wouldn't rather take the afternoon off and finish up the framin tomorrow?" Jack started rubbing up against him.

"Uh uh. Frame is goin up this afternoon so we can start on the roof tomorrow. We gotta get the frame all nice and tight, otherwise first wind come along and we'll be pickin up the pieces outta the back pasture."

"You're right, as usual; I just wanted to play a little." Jack grumbled and pulled his work gloves out of his back pocket and put them on.

"Shouldn't take all that long; we know what we're doin now. We just gotta make sure our measurements are right on the nose and we'll have it up in no time." Then with a backward glance at Jack added, "Then we can play."

"Let's get after it then." Jack agreed with a smile.

They did the two end sections first which went up easily enough then they did the middle section and had a little bit more trouble getting it set into place than the others. A little planning down of the wood and several good hits from their sledge hammer and it went in. They didn't even stop to admire the work; they just kept going until it was all bolted together nice and tight and each stud was straight and level.

"That's it?" Jack asked with glee.

"That's it. And I don't know about you but I could use a bath." Ennis said as they carried their tools back to the shed.

"A bath? And just where to you think you're gonna get a bath? You goin down to the creek?"

"No sir. It'd be way too cold. There's a couple of old wash tubs in the shed. Let's take a look and see if one of them can hold water. We can heat some up on our stove. It'll take a while but it sure would be nice to be able to clean up."

"You sayin I stink?" Jack teased.

"Nope. I'm sayin I stink. C'mon. There they are. They look pretty good to me. What do you think? See any holes in 'em?" They each held up a tub and looked carefully for holes and didn't find any.

"It'll take forever to heat up enough water." Jack said.

"Well, we got two burners on the camp stove and there's my hot plate. We got two pans and a coffee pot we can fill. We'll set the tub right between the two heaters and we don't need to fill it all the way up or to get the water all that hot; just warm enough so's we don't freeze our balls off while we're washin 'em." Ennis teased.

They opened up a couple cans of vegetables and dumped them together in one pan then added two cans of Vienna sausages to the mixture and while that was heating up for dinner on the hot plate they put water on to boil in their other pan and coffee pot.

Their bath consisted mainly of throwing water and snapping towels at each other. I little scrubbing got done; enough to suit them and they fell into bed giggling, with arms and legs wrapped around each other.

The next morning came the work on the roof which was hardest of all. The beams were larger, heavier and longer and took the two of them to lift one and a real struggle just to get it up there. While Ennis was familiar with hard work and what needed to be done; Jack was strong, willing and a quick learner once the concept was explained to him, and the work went well. It was slow work but once the header boards were up and bolted together the framing followed at a slow but steady pace. It was an 'A' frame roof so everything they did along the way, they had to first nail up foot holds to support themselves.

It was a long back-breaking day but by sunset they had the routine down with only a half dozen pieces left to fit into place the next morning. Just canned pasta for a quick dinner that evening and they fell into bed with little energy for anything but a little snuggling before sleep overtook them.

The next morning Jack woke up grumbling. "Man, I ache all over. I didn't know it was going to be this much work. Maybe we should hire the rest of it done?"

"No way. We got the worst of it done. What we did yesterday was the heaviest and the worst. We'll have the rest of the roof framed out this morning and the rest of it will be a lot easier. It'll go faster too; you'll see."

"We're already behind schedule. We were supposed to go into town this morning for the plywood; remember?"

"Yeah, I remember; plywood and some guns. We're only runnin a half a day late. We'll be done here by noon and can take off for town after lunch. You go hirin the work done and we'll be spendin money that we might need later on down the road. Money you said you wanted to spend on that big bath tub you been talkin about and that big bed."

"You really think the worst is behind us?" Jack wasn't convinced.

"Sure enough. Roof's always the hardest cause of the angles you have to work at. But once we finish the framin, then the plywood goes up in those big four by eight sheets. It's big and unwieldy but much lighter stuff to handle."

"Man, I don't know how them roofers do it every single day of their lives. I'd hate it. The work on the ground ain't that bad but I hate tryin to work hangin up there like an apple ready to fall off the tree any minute."

"Well, we ain't apples, Jack, and we ain't gonna be fallin. We're wrokin this smart; ain't takin no chances. Half a day left of the hard stuff then the rest is easier. That's a promise." Ennis assured him as they headed back outside.

Jack gave it his all as Ennis knew he would. Jack was a quick one to grumble but when it came time to do the work he was there and got the job done. As with the back wall, it was the last piece that gave them trouble again but with a little persuasion the last piece went in. They were finished with the framing.

They stood looking at it from all angles, admiring their work. Every stud was straight and true; all bolted together snug and strong.

"That's a fine lookin roof if I do say so myself." Jack bragged.

"It's a good one, Jack. It'll do." Ennis said as they headed back to the barn for an early lunch. Ennis fixed it for them and gave Jack a little something special for dessert. Afterwards they lay there with Jack wrapped tightly in Ennis's arms.

"Feel better about everythin now?" Ennis kissed an ear that was close by.

"Uh huh. Much." Jack answered dreamily.

"Just keep telling yourself; the sooner we get the roof finished completely; the sooner we can move into the house and sleep in front of that big fire place."

"Mmmmmm. I'm looking forward to that." Jack mumbled

"Once we get the plywood up, I can do the rest myself and you can start on putting the plywood up on the walls if you want. That way you can stay on the ground."

"No; I wanna be up there with you helpin. The rest should be a lot easier you said; right?"

"That's right. Once we get the plywood up, we seal it all then start with the roof sheeting and then there's just the shingles and that goes pretty fast."

"What's roof sheeting?"

"It's waterproof sheeting. Comes in big black rolls. You just unroll it and tack it down. Then you shingle over that."

"You done all this before?"

"Uh huh. You measure what you need then you roll it out and cut it on the ground then you haul it up and tack it down; simple. Then the shingles and we're done with the roof."

"OK. We finish it ourselves then. And no more talk about me bein on the ground while you're hangin up there by yourself. We do it together. Deal?"

"Deal. Now lets get into town and pick out some guns. I think we need a .30-06 for the big stuff and 20 guage for fowl and a coupla pistols just to be safe. We won't go lookin for trouble but if it comes our way I want to be ready to handle it. You ever shoot a pistol before Jack?"

"Nope. Pa had some old gun he kept back in the closet in the hall but I never saw him shoot it. I thought about getting one while I was livin in Texas but Lureen wouldn't hear of it. She hated guns. Seems some relative of hers lost a child to them playin with guns."

"Damn shame." Ennis agreed as they drove into town. "Guns are important though. But you gotta learn how to handle them and have enough sense to keep them away from children."

They bought the guns first and had them locked in the back seat of the truck. They were loading up the plywood in their horse trailer when one of the guys helping sidled up to Ennis and asked quietly. "Your friend there," he nodded to Jack who was writing out the check to pay. "He married? You and him … you know … together?"

Ennis gave him a look that would have melted any normal man into the ground but this one couldn't take his eyes off Jack long enough to even notice. "He ain't available." Ennis said through gritted teeth.

"Ah man, every one's available if you play your cards right." The guy snickered.

Ennis was seething and ready to kill when Jack came out to help load the final boards.

"Somethin wrong, Cowboy?" Jack asked as he slid behind the wheel and Ennis got in, slamming the door angrily.

"We gotta find us some place else to shop. I hate this place."

"What's wrong? I thought you liked Home Depot. The prices are good and the help's always been friendly."

"Too damn friendly if you ask me." Ennis answered and rode the rest of the way in silence answering any further questions with grunts.

Jack finally gave up and waited until they finished unloading before pursuing the matter further. They were inside sitting at the table looking at their new guns when he said, "You gonna tell me what upset you back there?"

"That asshole helpin me load; he was askin about you." Ennis spit out the words like the taste of them in his mouth was making him sick.

"Askin what?"

"Askin if you was available!" Ennis answered with fire in his eyes.

"Available? For what? Maybe he was lookin for help with somethin?"

"Only thing he was wantin help with was gettin into your jeans."

"Ennis … you sure you didn't misunderstand? I mean just cause it's on your mind all the time doesn't mean it's on anyone else's." Jack tried to make light of things. It didn't work.

"We ain't goin back there. If we need anythin more, we'll find someplace else to get it or I go by myself."

"Now that ain't happenin, Ennis. We already decided we're doin this together and the best way to stay out of trouble is to stay together when we're in town. We can find someplace else for supplies if you want but you ain't goin into town alone."

"OK. No more talk about it then. We shop someplace else. Period!"

They made an early night of it; Jack working overtime trying to ease Ennis back into a more comfortable mood.

Next day started with laying a whole new series of support strips for them to stand on and by lunch time they had one side of the roof decked with plywood and ready to start on the other. A quick lunch, then they were back up on the other side. They worked well together and were nailing down their last piece by dusk.

Ennis was putting the tools away in the shed when he heard the pickup drive up. He could hear talking but couldn't make out what was being said. One look out front and he saw the guy from Home Depot standing next to Jack talking and pretending to be interested in the work they were doing on the house.

Ennis slipped silently into the barn then eased back out to join the two of them. Jack walked over to him.

"This here's Tony Rawlings. Works for Home Depot; remember he was helpin us load yesterday? Says he knows a guy that's lookin for someone to add a room on his home. Wants to know if we're interested. I told him we had all we could handle with our own place and not lookin for outside work." Jack was rigid with fear; wondering what Ennis was going to do.

"You told it right. You need anythin else?" Ennis asked Rawlings.

"Nope. I was just tellin Jack here what a fine job you're doin with the place."

Ennis just glared at him. Rawlings got the picture and headed back to his truck. Jack stayed where he was and Ennis walked to the truck after Rawlings.

"One more thing, Rawlings," Ennis said stepping up close to the truck and pulling his jacket back far enough for Rawlings to see the pistol in his waist band; "You step foot on this property again, you'd better say your prayers first cause I'll bury you out there in the woods somewhere."

Rawlings scowled and floor-boarded it, squealing tires out of there, throwing dust and dirt in his haste. Ennis walked back to Jack. "Everything OK?" Jack asked.

"Everyhin's fine now but our secret is out of the bag. Only time will tell what trouble it will bring." Ennis slung an arm over Jack's shoulders and they went inside to dinner.

It took nearly a week before they needed to go into town again. They had finished the roof completely, shingles and all; finished the plywood outer walls and were ready now to pick up the doors and windows they had ordered – at Home Depot. They argued on the way into town that afternoon; Ennis wanting to go in alone and Jack insisting they go in together. Jack won this one and when it came time to load up, there was a different guy helping. Ennis heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe Rawlings had moved on.

They had gone barely a block when they stopped at a red light in front of a bar. They heard some hollering and yelling and four guys came stumbling out the front door being escorted by a burly guy with a base ball bat. Just as the light changed, a beer bottle came sailing at them and smashed against the side of the truck just below where Ennis's elbow was resting. Jack hit the brakes and started to pull over.

"KEEP GOING!" Ennis insisted and reached into the glove box and pulled out his pistol.

There was yelling and name calling and after one quick look back and seeing the crowd boiling out of the bar, Jack stepped on it again. Ennis sat up all that night. Checking and rechecking the guns; sure they were coming for them and nothing Jack could say would persuade him otherwise.

By morning it was raining. Jack suggested they use that day to drive to Riverton to pick up Ennis's horses. Ennis agreed eagerly; not all that fond of driving in the rain but he preferred that to sitting there and waiting for Rawlings and his buddies to show up. They argued about it on the road.

"Ennis, I tell you it was just a bunch of drunks. It didn't mean nothin!"

"A bunch of drunks can be a deadly thing, Jack. I'm sure Rawlings was one of 'em. We gotta keep an eye out."

"They're probably all sobered up by now and sleepin it off"

"You can't just ignore this, Jack. They could come after us when we least expect it. We gotta be ready."

They stopped at a fast food place for lunch and Jack took the pistol out of the glove box.

He held the gun in his hand and judged its weight. "It's heavier than I thought it would be."

"It ain't a toy. We get in trouble you use it; ya hear? Ain't no sense havin 'em if you ain't gonna use it. A man's got a right to protect himself. So if you need to; you use it."

"I'd use it if I had to, Ennis. You know you can count on me. You do know that, don't 'cha?"

"Yeah, Jack, I do. I just was hopin it wouldn't never come to this." Ennis said as they pulled back out onto the road.

"Well maybe it ain't. I mean, maybe it was all just a bunch of drunks and it didn't have nothin to do with us."

"He was sniffin after ya, Jack. I'm tellin ya."

"OK; so what if he was? I mean, it ain't a crime. But now he knows I'm not available. Odds are; he'll keep his distance."

"Don't know 'bout no odds. I just know 'bout bein ready if he tries anythin with his friends."

"OK. That sounds like a good idea to me. I agree we should stay ready; alert. But tomorrow I wanna get back to workin on our house."

Ennis thought about it a minute or two then shook his head. "Agreed. We do need to get the house finished. One more good days work should see the doors and windows in and we can see about moving in. I'd be a lot more secure than the old barn."

"Now that's the way I like to hear you talk!" Jack grinned and reached over for a kiss. Ennis gave him several.

"We gotta stay alert, Jack." He warned one more time.

"We will, we will. I promise."

They picked up the horses and drove back with no problems at all. They got them in the barn fed and watered and fixed dinner; Ennis still pacing the floor, nervous as a kitten. Jack finally coaxed him to bed and they settled in for the night; with guns loaded and close by.

By morning the rain had stopped and they came awake to the sun shining through the one window at the back of the barn. A quick breakfast and they were back to working on the house. Ennis kept his pistol in his waistband and his rifle near by. Jack kept his pistol in the tool box. By noon they had all five windows installed; two in each bedroom and one in the bathroom. After lunch they tackled the back door. It was a little trickier getting it in and level but a little shimming here and there and it was in. The house was now enclosed.

"You wanna move in tonight or wait until we get it all cleaned up? That living room needs some major cleanin and the fireplace might not even be working. It's probably all clogged up with animal nests and such." Ennis asked.

"Let's wait till tomorrow. I'm too tired to do any cleanin tonight. We need to get back into town and get in touch with the electrician and call that plumber. While we're there, let's get the phone company out here and put us in a phone." Jack answered as he made dinner.

"Sounds good. I'm beat." Ennis pulled off his boots and lay down while Jack fried up some hash.

"What else we got left to do?" Jack asked as he shoveled the food into his mouth.

"Well there's a sealing compound we need to use on all the cracks inside and out in between all the boards. That's the stuff in that case of tubes you was askin about the other day when we picked them up. I'll show you how it's done. It's easy."

"And after that?"

"Those sheets of aluminum siding on the outside. I ain't too crazy about that stuff but it matches the rest of the house so we need to use it to make it look right. Then there's the insulation on the inside."

"That's them big rolls of pink stuff?"

"That's right. That goes up easy enough then your inside wall boards."

"Then we're done?" Jack asked hopefully.

"More or less." Ennis answered as he handed his plate back to Jack.

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" Jack asked.

"Then all that's left is deciding how you want to finish off the inside; if you want to paint or wall paper or panel; and what you want to put on the floors; more linoleum, or tile, carpet, whatever."

"But once we get the siding up that will be it for the outside?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Mostly. We'll still need to do a little trim work around the door and windows. That kinda stuff."

"I can't believe we're almost done!"

"I know. It was a big job but we're almost there." Ennis reached for him as Jack blew out the candle. It was a good night and they slept well.

The next morning they got the sealant finished before heading into town; first contacting the electrician, plumber and phone company; then doing some shopping. They took another chance and stopped off at Home Depot; Ennis keeping a wary eye out but Rawlings was no where to be seen.

They looked at wall boards and paneling and decided to go with the paneling for the hallway and both bedrooms and wall board for the kitchen and bathroom. Of course the paneling they wanted, they didn't have enough in stock and had to order it. They also picked out bathroom fixtures and a hot water heater and a new kitchen sink for the plumber to install when he got out there.

They also got the tools they would need to clean out the chimney. They loaded up the truck with one of the employees helping. Ennis waited until Jack was out of ear shot and asked the guy, "Where's old Tony? He not working today?"

"Rawlings? Nah, they fired his ass. He's in jail, I think. Him and some buddies of his got drunk the other night and got into trouble. They got thrown out of Billy's Bar down the street there and came back after hours and busted the place up. He a friend of yours?"

"No; definitely not." Ennis answered emphatically just as Jack returned. Ennis closed and latched the back of the trailer, thanked the guy for his help and they climbed in and headed for home.

"What was you telling that guy 'no' for?" Jack asked as he eased the truck out into traffic.

"I asked about Rawlins. Seems he got into a little trouble the other night. Him and his buddies went back to that bar they got thrown out of and busted the place up. He's sittin in jail about now. The guy was askin me if I was a friend of Rawlins. I told him 'no." They rode the rest of the way to the ranch with small satisfied smiles on their faces.

They had barely finished lunch when the workmen started arriving. The electrician showed up first and they set him to wiring up the bathroom first so he'd be out of the way by the time the plumber got there. The plumbers arrived an hour later just as the phone man showed up. It was hustle and bustle all afternoon but by dinnertime they had a working bathroom; with tub, shower, sink and toilet all in place and wiring completed through the new rooms and checked out and replaced where needed in the older section of the house. And, last but not least, a working telephone hung on the kitchen wall; water and electricity to the house turned on and working.

While the workmen had done their jobs, Jack and Ennis cleaned out the chimney and the rest of the living room and kitchen and walked around the place gathering up some fire wood.

By dark they had relocated into the living room and had a nice fire going in the fire place.

They cooked dinner on their small camp stove and actually had a nice sink with hot water to clean the dishes afterwards.

Best of all, they had a big bath tub, with some nice new towels and a bath mat on the bare ply-wood floor. After the dishes were done they started the tub.

"Jack, I ain't too sure about this. I ain't taken a sit down bath since I was a kid. You sure you wouldn't rather just take a shower?"

"Uh uh. C'mon. You're gonna love it." Jack pulled his clothes off and stepped into the steaming water. Ennis followed and sighed with pleasure as he sat down with Jack sitting behind him. He leaned back against Jack's chest and stretched out as much as he could.

"Oh man. This feels good!"

"I knew you'd like it. Hand me that soap." Ennis reached the soap sitting on the side of the tub, un-wrapped it and handed it to Jack. It smelled good; like the outdoors. Jack took it and lathered it up then began washing Ennis's arms and shoulders.

"Feel good?" He asked as he shoved Ennis forward enough to lather up his back. Ennis couldn't answer; he just moaned his pleasure. A few minutes late he took the soap from Jack and lathered up Jack's legs and feet. They sat up enough for Ennis to turn around and finish washing Jack's arms, shoulders and back then Jack got control of the soap enough to finish off Ennis's legs and feet. Then they were up on their knees. First a quick shampoo from a bottle on the edge of the tub; each scrubbing the others head thoroughly then after they wiped the water from their eyes; they got down to business.

Jack took the soap and worked it between his hands until he had a good lather, then reached behind Ennis and washed his butt. Ennis's breath catching in his chest as the warm hands ran over his bottom. Jack worked the soap up again, then with both hands and began lathering up Ennis's cock and balls.

"It ain't that dirty." He said with a wry grin.

"Well you know what they say. 'Cleanliness is next to Godliness'." Jack said with a lecherous grin.

"What you got on your mind ain't got nothin to do with Godliness." Ennis grinned back.

Ennis had to stop him after a minute or two or it would be all over with before he got to use it the way he had planned to that evening. A hand on Jack's chest and the other hand on the soap and it was his turn to lather up. Jack let go and steadied himself for Ennis's hands as they roamed over his ass and pulled Jack closer to him. When he started lathering around front Jack didn't give him much time and had to stop him. He did so with a kiss. Ennis lost track of what he was doing and pulled Jack close up against him. They kissed and rubbed their soapy bodies against one another until they could stand it no longer.

Ennis pulled back, stood up and said, "OUT!" He tossed Jack a towel, wiped off briefly and headed for the living room leaving wet foot prints in the raw ply-wood floor. Jack followed right behind. The fire was blazing and the sleeping bags already opened out and waiting. One swift movement and Jack was on his back and Ennis was on top of him, his legs were up on Ennis's shoulders and Ennis was entering him. Neither one of them lasted very long. In moments they were lost to the world, the sounds of their passion filling the room; punctuated by the crackling of the fire. A quick wipe up afterwards and they slept soundly the first night in their new home.

Morning came and with it Jack giving Ennis a little wake up call under the covers. After Ennis returned the favor they got up and got after it. They were early risers and always managed to get at least a few hours work in before they needed to head into town. They brought the ladders inside and began stapling up the insulation; ceiling first, then down the walls. They finished just before noon; had lunch then headed into town and Sears. They bought a new refrigerator, a freezer, a stove and a washer and dryer. It took a bit of maneuvering but they managed to get it all in their trailer and headed home.

They sat at their table eating lunch and Ennis worried out loud watching Jack work over his checkbook. "How's the money holding out, Jack. We spending too much?"

"Nah. In fact we're under budget with the building expenses. We went a little over on the appliances but we needed all this stuff so it's a good investment. All in all, we're about where you said we'd be; maybe a little ahead. You got any idea how much more it's gonna take to finish up?"

"Well, you already paid for the paneling and wall board for the kitchen and bathroom and ceilins all through, so that's taken care of and we got plenty of adhesive and nails for the installation. Once we get that done, it's all a matter of paint for the ceilings, cabinets, and walls in the kitchen and bathroom. Then we need to scrape the rest of the linoleum out and get some new laid all through. Then it's time to think about some furniture. That's about all that's left."

"You said something about trim around the windows and door?"

"Yeah, but that won't be much. We'll need to get a miter box to cut the angles but we

can pick up a plastic one for a couple a bucks. Not much expense there; about a hundred or so for the trim and what'd that guy at Home Depot say about the linoleum; about $1200 for the whole house? And a couple hundred for the tile work. The paint couldn't run more than a couple hundred so I'd say in the neighborhood of $2,000 should do it."

"And we're ending up with a nice two bedroom house at roughly half what it would have cost to hire it done. You saved us a lot of money, Cowboy." Jack smiled and rubbed Ennis's arm.

"I didn't do it alone, Jack. You were right there beside me all the way."

"Yeah, grumblin and bitchin every step."

"Well, you do bitch a lot but you do the work and that's what counts."

"Is that what counts? I thought this is what counts?" Jack un-snapped his jeans and raised his eyebrows at Ennis.

"Uh uh. We got work to do. We got appliances to unload and I want to at least get started on that siding before it gets too dark."

"All right, but on one condition." Jack got to his feet reluctantly.

"What would that be?" Ennis asked.

"Another bath tonight after dinner."

"You got it. Now let's get after it."

Two hours later everything was unloaded, hooked up and the boxes flattened and in the burn barrel. On to the aluminum siding. Jack read the instructions carefully while Ennis un-wrapped the bundles and started the first row at the bottom of the house. It went up easily enough with Ennis staggering the seam line joining the old with the new. By dusk they finished one side of the house and quit for the evening.

"You know, if we ever needed other work to do, I think we could do this for a living." Jack said over dinner.

"You talkin remodeling? Or openin cans for dinner?" Ennis asked sipping his coffee.

"Remodeling. It ain't all that bad."

"Shit, Jack. If I remember correctly; you was the one against us doin it ourselves."

"That was before I knew how easy it was."

"Easy? You didn't think it was so easy when we was hangin up there on the roof jugglin those sheets of ply wood."

"Yeah, well, roofin's different. I wouldn't wanna have to do that every day. But the rest of this stuff is easy; kinda fun even."

"Maybe fun afterwards when it's all done and you get to stand around and look at your work but it is hard work, Jack. And most of the time it's being done outside in the wind and the rain or the sun beatin down on you; and the people wantin everythin done yesterday and bitchin at you to hurry up and finish."

"Well, I was just thinkin is all." Jack muttered as he got up and cleared the table.

"I tole you once before; you're a great thinker there, Jack Fuckin Twist." Ennis teased as he carried his dishes over to the sink.

"Yes you did and you remember what happened after you came back into the tent that night?"

"Can't say as I do. My mind's a little fuzzy there."

"I fucked you three times that night! You said in the mornin you wouldn't be able to sit right for a week. You remember now?" Jack warned affectionately.

"Vaguely," Ennis snickered and headed for the bathroom.

He got it once while the tub was filling; once as they were drying off afterwards and again a short time later as they lay together naked in front of the crackling fire.

They slept in the next morning. Ennis giving a wiped out Jack a wake up call under the covers.

"Morning Jack. Sleep well?" Ennis bounded out of bed and into the kitchen to put coffee on before heading into the bathroom.

"Mmmphh …" Jack mumbled and pulled the covers up over his head. Only the tantalizing smell of a hot cup of coffee sitting on the hearth beside him could coax him out from under the covers. "Ohhhhh that's good!" He held it in both hands and sipped.

"You wanna sleep in this morning, Jack? You can if you want. I'm gonna work on the siding." Ennis said as he was stirring some cinnamon into the oatmeal.

"How come you're so chipper this morning? I'm beat!" Jack said as he dragged himself over to the table.

"That's because you did all the work last night." Ennis grinned at him.

"Oh yeah, I remember now. Is that why you're standin eatin your oatmeal?" Jack grinned a mischievous grin.

"I could sit if I wanted to. I just don't want to right now." Ennis insisted as he leaned back against the cabinets and ate his oatmeal.

Jack chuckled as he sipped his coffee; "Looks like we finish the sidin. Might as well since we're standin up anyway." He grinned at Ennis and got rewarded for it with a towel thrown in his face.

It took them the rest of the day but they finished the siding.

The first warm day of spring, their tractor arrived; all bright and shiny new. They argued a bit about spending that much money but Jack insisted it was within their budget and made more sense than buying an old one and spending a bundle to fix it up, just to have it break down again a few years later when they might not have the money for repairs. Ennis gave in easily after one ride around on it and seeing how nice and smoothly it ran.

They set to work turning the ground in the back pasture, taking turns running it. It was quite a machine and did everything asked of it. Well worth the money, in Jack's opinion; still a bit pricey in Ennis's opinion but there were no more arguments about it.

Once the back pasture was turned they picked out a site for their vegetable garden. The ground was good; just like they figured it was first day they looked at the place. The next few days were spent deciding what and how many rows of each to plant. They decided to erect an eight foot fence around the garden to keep the local wild life out.

On clear days, they worked outside wrestling the place into shape. On wet, rainy days they finished up the inside walls, ceilings, molding and painting. Once they were far enough along they had Home Depot come in and lay the linoleum all through and do the tile work around the bathroom and kitchen. Finally a trip into town for new furniture; a king sized bed, two chests of drawers, two night stands and two lamps for their bedroom; a new kitchen table and chairs for the kitchen and a couch and two recliners some end tables and a TV set for the living room.

While their garden grew they studied up on canning and freezing and decided that freezing was definitely easier and decided to go that route. They also decided that meant another freezer as they planned on filling at least one freezer during hunting season.

To be on the safe side, they bought two new freezers plus cases of containers to freeze stuff in.

They had found an old area back some ways behind the house that had some old dead apple trees. They worked a week cutting them down, digging out the stumps and then made a trip into the local nursery and bought, four apple trees and two pear trees. They knew they'd get little or no fruit the first year but in years to come they would provide a good supply.

Their garden grew well and they spent a portion of every day tending to it. The fence kept most of the critters out but a few did get in. Not too much damage was done and they did manage to catch a couple of rabbits one morning and they ended up in the freezer.

Ennis was pretty good at concocting up recipes in his head for a meal and Jack spent some time trying out recipes from an old cookbook they picked up in town at a rummage sale. They enjoyed their time in the kitchen putting together meals. It was a good time for them.

Fall came and their freezers were packed full of vegetables from their garden, fruit bought in town, fish they had caught and odds and ends of wild life that happened onto their property. The elk they shot was a huge thing and they had to get another freezer. Four freezers in all graced their side porch and they had to spend one long cold day underneath to re-enforce it. Jack grumbled all the way but Ennis insisted that with the freezers and the extra weight of the firewood they'd been cutting made it necessary.

The first snow came early and deep but they were prepared. They had firewood stacked high, their freezers packed full, and enough hay and oats in the barn for the horses. They spent hours in front of the fire place planning for the next spring. What more vegetables they wanted to try and grow in their garden; what different spots they wanted to try fishing or hunting; how many cows and which breed to start their herd and where to go to get their horses to start breeding and working on their budget to make sure they planned for everything.

They had needed minimal repairs on the outer fencing but with horses, they would need some major cross fencing and if they were going to board and train horses, they'd need to build some stables. They spent a great deal of time on that, figuring out which area was best suited for the horses and trying to design exactly what they would need as Ennis worked at convincing Jack that they could build it themselves.

They cooked a turkey they had bought in town for Christmas dinner and both agreed that next year they would make time to go hunting fowl. There was plenty of it to be had in the wild and Ennis insisted there was no need spending good money on what can be had for free but for just a little effort on their part. The lure of a hunting trip and camping out in a tent again had Jack readily agreeing and they practiced often with their guns.

Life was good for them that winter; working together, planning their future. They neither saw nor heard from Rawlings again; nor did anyone bother them outside of a few gals flirting with them from time to time when they went into town but they were both good looking men and they were used to handling situations like that.

Spring came and it was a nice March morning; the two of them were getting ready to go into town for supplies. Ennis was ready first as usual; Jack was still in the bathroom working on getting his hair to lay down.

Ennis was watching the news on TV while he was waiting and a knock at the door startled him. They very rarely had visitors out there. He opened the door to find a beautiful woman standing there.

"Yes?" he said.

"Mr. Del Mar? Ennis Del Mar?" She asked.

"Uh huh, what can I do for you?"

"My name is Lureen. Lureen Twist. May I come in?"

Ennis turned immediately to stone. He took a step back and she walked into their living room just as Jack come hurrying out pulling his jacket on. "Sorry I took so long, Cowboy, I just couldn't…" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lureen.

"Couldn't what, Jack? Couldn't get your pants back on fast enough?" Lureen asked with a smirk.

Ennis pushed the door closed and it smacked shut with a loud noise that startled all three of them.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I apologize." Lureen said graciously to the both of them who were still stuck speechless.

"Aren't you going to at least ask me to sit down?" She said looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Sit." Ennis said, though it came out more like an order than an offer.

"Thank you. I believe I will." She took a seat on the couch and pulled her gloves off and put them in her purse. "Now then, who wants to talk first? Do you want to explain this all to me or do you want me to just sit here and ask questions?" She asked.

Jack and Ennis looked at each other. "I can explain everything, Lureen. It was all my idea." Jack said as he took a seat across from her.

"You want me to take a walk?" Ennis asked.

"No!"

"No!" Two answers came at him simultaneously. He pulled out a kitchen chair, turned it around and sat on it backwards.

Jack rubbed a hand down over his face and asked. "How did you find me?"

"Wasn't hard at all. It's income tax time, Jack. A lot of money was disappearing from you Denver account so I checked into it a bit and here I am."

"You knew about that account?"

"Of course I did. You've had it for years. I knew about it when you set it up. My lawyer thought maybe you might be plannin to siphon some money from my estate or the business but far as we could ever tell, you was just puttin in your own money that you earned yourself; your bonuses and such."

"That's all I did, Lureen. You know I'd never take a penny that didn't belong to me."

"I know that, Jack, but the lawyer warned me that we need to keep an eye on it and we have. That's how we come to notice when we was doing our taxes that someone had been taking a log of money outta that account. I decided to take a little trip up here and find out what I could."

"OK. So now you know. What are you gonna do about it?" Jack asked cautiously.

She looked from one of them to the other, then around the small room. "This is what you want? Living here with him?"

"This is what I want." Jack said emphatically.

"So who was that poor man who died then?

"I don't know. Just some hitch hiker. He offered to change the tire in exchange for a ride. I had walked off and was takin a piss when I heard the explosion. When I got to him, he was dead. Didn't have no ID on him at all."

"And you just automatically figured to change places with him and take off? Lettin us all think it was you?"

"I did. I saw it as my way out. I figured you'd never give me a divorce; figured you'd rather be known as a widow than a divorcee." Jack answered lighting a cigarette with shaking hands.

She thought about it for a moment then said, "Well, I guess you're right about that. Everybody has been treatin me special like, invitin me everywhere, lookin in on me; not at all like they treat divorcees. Everybody pretty much stays away from them." She lit a cigarette herself with her little gold cigarette lighter and slipped it back into her purse.

Ennis sat and listened to it all and wiped the perspiration off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"What are you gonna do?" Jack asked.

"Nothin to do, I reckon. You wanna be dead to your family in Texas then it's all right with me. You coulda got out with a lot more money in a divorce."

"I didn't want nothin more than what I earned, Lureen."

"I know. You're just so damn sweet, Jack." She blinked back a tear and took a deep breath. "If this is what you want then you got it. You won't get no trouble from me. You should call your folks though."

"I called Momma and explained everything to her. She's fine with it." Jack stubbed out his cigarette and lit another one.

"Well, I guess this is it then." She stood to leave and pulled her gloves back on.

"You ain't gonna cause no trouble?" Jack asked standing up and walking to the door with her.

"No, honey, I'm not. I tried for near twenty years to make you happy and never could do it. Now I know why." She glanced over at Ennis. "I guess I never really had a chance with you, did I?"

"I'm sorry if I hurt you, Lureen. You was always good to me." Jack said honestly.

"Well, you stood by me when I needed you too; you married me. I never did tell you but there was a pretty good possibility that Bobby might not have been yours."

"Didn't know that. But it ain't all that surprising. He don't look nothin like me and never did seem to take to me."

"I know, honey, I know. And Daddy sure didn't help any. Maybe it all worked out for the best. You got what you want, your Ennis Del Mar; and I get to be the rich widow that everyone goes out of their way to look after. I really do enjoy that. You know how I always loved having people dote on me. Didn't get much of that after Daddy passed."

"You'll do all right, Lureen," Jack assured her and opened the door.

"Of course I will. I always do, don't I?" She smiled up at him.

"What are you gonna tell that lawyer?"

"Oh, don't worry none. I'll handle him. As much as I pay him, he'll keep his mouth shut."

"Thank you, Lureen. I mean that." Jack put a hand on her arm and squeezed.

"You're welcome, Jack. And Ennis?" She poked her head back in the door.

"Yes?" He stood up and joined them at the door.

"You best keep him out of Texas or I'll try and win him back from you!" She said with a smile on her face.

"We got no plans to go to Texas, Ma'am. Never!" Ennis said.

"Bye, Lureen. You take care now." Jack bent and kissed her temple.

"I will, don't you worry about me or nothin else down in Texas. Be happy Jack."

"I already am, Lureen. Thanks."

"Bye then." She walked across the porch then turned and called back. "Nice meetin you Ennis. You take care of him now; ya hear?"

"I will."

And she was gone. They stood for several minutes just staring at each other before Jack spoke, "What do you think?" He asked nervously.

"I think we need to see about getting a big iron gate for the driveway so not just anybody can get in here."

Jack laughed as they fell into each other's arms; giddy with relief. Only time would tell what would befall them next but whatever it was; they would meet it head on. The sweet life was theirs now and they aimed to enjoy it.

The End.


End file.
